fear & desire

 the romance of an ideal couple 
from their first meeting to their feigned sulking in their 
married life. Each couplet is the utterance of the hero or 
the heorine in a particulr emotional situation. The various 
moods of the lovers are dramatically presented in them. 

HE: Her feminine grace is simple but terrible. Her 
eyes seem to kill those that look at them. I knew not the 
God of death till now. Now I see him in the eyes of this 
graceful lady. Modesty adorns her; that is enough; of what 
use are all other jewels to her. She has two looks, one 
causes pain and the other is the cure for it. When the eyes 
of the lovers express agreement, the words of the mouths 
are of no use. The remedy for a disease is different from 
the disease; but in this case she is both the ailment and the 
cure for it. Where did she get this fire that burns at a 
distance and cools when nearby? 

The love between us is as great as the bond between 
the body and the soul. I feel like living when she is by my 
side, and like dying when she leaves me. 

SHE: My lover is so subtle that he never departs from 
my eyes and is never hurt by my winking. Since he abides 
in my eyes, I am afraid of painting them lest he is hidden. 
He is in my heart, so I am afraid of eating anything hot as 
it would affect him. 

The foolish laugh at me not knowing the pangs of my 
love; they have not yet suffered as I do. It was only one 
day that I met him; but the slander is so widespread as the 
talk about an eclipse of the moon. The slander is the 
manure and the reproach of the mother the water for this 
anguish of love. 

SHE: Tell me anything but parting; if it is only that, 
tell it to those who will survive your separation. If there 
is parting even in the case of such an understanding lover.